Kaine on Travel

Gov. Tim Kaine said today that the Democratic National Committee has agreed to reimburse Virginia for the travel costs for his security detail when he travels for the DNC. The DNC also reimburses the costs of Kaine's own travel.

"The idea is no state costs for out-of-state trips," he said, noting that similar reimbursement has not occurred with previous governors--hint, hint, former Republican National Committee Chairman Jim Gilmore.

Speaking after an environmental press conference south of Richmond, Kaine responded to criticism from Republicans that he has been spending too much time on his DNC job and has not been releasing a regular schedule of his out-of-state trips. He said he is spending about one day a week working for the DNC, but regularly works seven days a week on state business and tends to spend two to three hours a day on the phone on state issues even when traveling for the DNC.

"Ultimately, the issue is, am I working hard on state business?" he said, noting that he does five to seven public events each week and is continually rolling out new initiatives. "I'm working seven days a week...I'm very comfortable with the time I'm spending on state business."

Kaine said there is nothing "covert" about his travel but that he plans to continue to answer questions when they arise, rather than releasing any regular schedule of his DNC activities.

"I just think the easiest way to handle it is for folks to ask, and I'll answer it," he said.